Walther PPK Was the Weapon of choice for James Bond and Adolf Hitler

“Walther PPK with a delivery like a brick through a plate glass window. Takes a Brausch silencer with very little reduction in muzzle velocity. The American CIA swear by them.”
– Major Boothroyd to 007, Dr. NO

The Walther PPK was was the weapon of choice for James Bond from the films Dr. No to Tomorrow Never Dies (except Moonraker and Octopussy) and again in Quantum of Solace, SkyFall and SPECTRE. The gun is also mentioned in the Ian Fleming novels from Dr. No to The Man with the Golden Gun. It’s the only gun / gadget that is used by all the Bond actors.

It all starts in Ian Fleming’s novel Dr. No, when M, the head of MI6, orders Bond to turn in his Beretta pistol and replaces it with a ‘superior’ gun, the Walther PPK.

Walther PPK (Polizeipistole Kriminal or some say it comes from ‘Polizeipistole Kurz’ – Police pistol ‘short’, a shortened version of the Walther PP and differs from it in size (shorter barrel and grip) and magazine size. The Walther was first presented in 1931; it quickly became very popular among European police agencies and civilian shooters since the gun was reliable and easy to conceal, but of moderate power. During the II World War the guns were issued to German military police personnel, high military officers and other military personnel.

In 1931 when the model PPK was the main production weapon, Walther introduced a pocket version. The gun was the same as the PPK except that the barrel had been shortened. The internal mechanism was the same, however the parts that were affected by size were of course different. The most significant change was in the frame. The total length of the PPK is 155 mm. The magazine holds one less cartridge. The barrel has six clockwise riflings. The back strap had been eliminated. They utilized a wrap-around plastic grip to give the frame a corrected contour. The firm then came up with the model designation PPK or “Polizei Pistole Kriminal”. The name symbolized that it was to be used for covert undercover police work.

The Walther PPK/s was first manufactured in the U.S.A in 1978 by Ranger Manufacturing in Gadsen, Alabama.

Today the PPK and the PPK/s are both manufactured with the .380 ACP or 9mm Short standard. Those that still own the 7.65 guns have found that the newer .32 ACP Silvertip loading from Winchester still offers more than adequate stopping power.

The Walther PPK or PP are still best carried with .380 ACP loads, a good personal defence caliber. This is provided that the shooting range is short. Only the American models have been produced in stainless steel. The German handguns are made with the blued finish.

The canonical version of Hitler’s suicide includes a PPK—maybe the best use of a Walther pistol, ever.Forget for a minute that this pistol was a staple for Nazis. It was the imagination of Ian Fleming that made the Walther PPK an icon

Related Articles

The Steyr AUG is an Austrian bullpup 5.56×45mm NATO assault rifle, designed in the 1960s by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG (formerly Steyr-Daimler-Puch). The rifle and its variants have also been adopted by the armed forces of Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Pakistan, the Falkland Islands Defence Force and the U.S. Immigration and Customs […]

The Benelli M4 semi-auto 12-gauge is considered by many serious users to be the Cadillac of tactical shotguns, and it happens to be the current general-issue combat shotgun (M1014) of the United States Marine Corps. There are reasons for both, and where price is not a barrier, performance becomes the issue. Benelli has built its […]

If you are a Deagle fan but have problems deciding between running your Israeli supersized pistol in .44 Magnum or .50 Action-Express, Magnum Research now has you covered. A new offering announced this week pairs a standard black Desert Eagle Mark XIX in .44 Mag in a combo pack that includes a .50 AE caliber […]